Hillsboro School District Weekly Hot News, December 4, 2023 - Budget Update and State Revenue Forecast

Hillsboro School District Weekly Hot News Podcast

The month of November was dominated by talk about the inadequacy of state funding for K-12 education in Oregon. It was a primary reason cited by Portland Public Schools as they navigated negotiations with their teachers’ union, and also by Salem-Kaiser as it announced SKPS would be enacting $30 million in reductions immediately.

School funding is a very complex issue, so it’s not surprising that it is one where solutions can be a bit elusive. Governor Kotek has committed to deeply studying and bringing more transparency to how Oregon funds schools in the coming year, which is welcome news.

In the meantime, we have created a six-page document with graphs and narrative content that highlights some of the key features of Oregon’s funding for schools over time, how HSD spends its money, our current costs, and the various ways we demonstrate both fiscal responsibility and stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Find this and more information on the Budget Matters page of our website.

We do not currently anticipate any mid-year reductions to our budget in 2023-24, and the State’s December Economic and Revenue Forecast supports that belief. That said, costs for our district continue to escalate and we will be keeping that in mind as we develop a balanced budget for the 2024-25 school year next spring.

Legislators again received positive financial news, as the Forecast showed another surge in revenue that is projected to generate an additional $343.5 million in net general fund and lottery resources for the 2023-25 biennium. That said, the State’s revenue outlook appears to have stabilized. The revenue boom seen during the 2021 tax year is unlikely to be repeated, with collections expected to revert back to their long-term trends. Traditional gains in General Fund collections are expected to resume in the 2025-27 biennium and beyond.

As we look ahead to the short Legislative Session in 2024, we are hopeful that resources will be allocated to summer learning programs, which have proven to be immensely helpful to HSD students as we continue to recover from the pandemic and work to ensure students have the supports they need to be successful in school.

Our featured students are our Downtown Marketing summer interns. One of the many exciting aspects of HSD’s Career and College Pathways program is the opportunity for students to participate in paid summer internships. The Downtown Marketing internship matches students with local businesses in downtown Hillsboro to help them modernize their approach to communications and marketing. Students counsel business owners on how to utilize social media, refresh their messaging, and update graphics to reach their intended audiences and expand sales of goods and services. HSD’s Downtown Marketing summer interns presented their findings to the Workforce Development team and partners at the Civic Center. Their presentation secured a budget from the City of Hillsboro, ensuring their project’s continuation through the school year and summer of 2024. Way to go, students! You make us Proud to be HSD!

Hot News is produced and emailed to HSD families and staff each week school is in session. Please add the address to your “safe sender” list to make sure you always receive the latest issue. Please also bookmark our district website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hsd.k12.or.us⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to stay informed about what’s happening in our district and schools.